"Monsieur, will you follow me?"
Barrington sprang to his feet at once.
"Monsieur will have been told by Citizen Latour that he is to do as I direct."
"I am so tired of these walls that a journey to the Place de la Revolution would be almost welcome."
Mercier carried a lantern, and, after locking the door of the cell, he led Barrington by the same way that he and Seth had taken. They pa.s.sed through the trapdoor into the cellar, and from there into the pa.s.sage of the house.
"This way," said Mercier, opening a door which gave on to a dark alleyway covered in but apparently joining one house to another.
Barrington did not stop to ask himself questions, to consider whether it was wise to trust this man. At the end of this alley Mercier opened another door, and they entered a room barely furnished, and dimly lighted. Two men rose quickly from seats beside a stove, and one came forward with a glad cry.
"Master Richard! Master Richard! I thought they"d been lying to me. I thought you were dead. Thank G.o.d for the sight of your face again."
Their hands clasped and were held tightly, as men who are comrades yet do not speak of it much.
"I"ve been lying in some cellar underneath here with the wits out of me," said Seth. "Now we"re to take a journey, though I cannot worm out of these gentlemen where to. It doesn"t matter much so long as we are together."
"A journey?" said Barrington, turning to Mercier.
"That is so, monsieur."
"It"s strange that we four should be together again," said Seth. "They were the Count and his friend when we drank a bottle of wine at Beauvais."
"Now Citizens Mercier and Dubois," said Mercier, putting down the lantern. "And a bottle of wine will not harm us. It will keep the cold night out. There"s a bottle in the cupboard, Dubois."
Dubois got it out and drew the cork with evident relish.
"Remember the last, Master Richard," Seth whispered.
Mercier could not have heard what he said, but he evidently remembered the last occasion.
"There is nothing in this to make one sleep heavily. Here"s the proof,"
and he filled a gla.s.s and drained it. "I"ve tasted better wine, but at any rate it"s harmless. Now for the other things, Dubois."
Dubois brought from the cupboard coats, hats, tri-color c.o.c.kades and sashes, sabres and wigs, which he placed upon the table.
"You will remember what Citizen Latour said, monsieur," said Mercier, turning to Barrington. "You were to do as I directed. One false step and your lives are forfeit, and mine, and Citizen Latour"s too."
"We go to--"
"On a journey, monsieur, a dangerous one, but with a good end to it, I hope. Let me help you to dress in this coat and wig."
"I care not how I go, so that the journey leads me to--to my desire,"
said Barrington.
"That"s the road we all try to travel," Dubois returned, as he helped Seth fit his wig and tied the sash round him.
"It"s a long road and few reach the end of it," Seth remarked, "but with a sword to hand I find my courage rising."
"Let me touch your face with a little black from the stove," said Mercier. "You are a little too pale, Monsieur Barrington."
"It is no wonder. It seems an age since I felt the wind on my cheeks."
"That is better," said Mercier, as with some skill he tinted Barrington"s face and then treated Seth in the same fashion. "Now listen. You, Monsieur Barrington, are Citizen Roche, your man here is Citizen Pinot. You are both officers of the Convention under the leadership of Citizen Mercier, a trusted servant of the Convention.
Remember these names, Roche, Pinot;--think of no others. I have papers with me in which you are so named. Leave the speaking to me. You are glum fellows l.u.s.ting only for the work you have been given to do."
"But where do we go?" asked Barrington.
"You must trust me, monsieur. I have my instructions from Citizen Latour. It may be that I do not know the whole of his purpose. May I trust you to follow my instructions to the letter? for truly, if you presently ask questions and show curiosity, my head is as good as in Madame Guillotine"s basket."
"You may trust me," Barrington answered.
"Then we may go at once. Good night, Citizen Dubois."
"Good night."
Through a doorway they pa.s.sed into a yard shut in by the backs of houses, from which, high up, dim lights glimmered. Mercier led the way, bidding them keep close to him, and presently turned into a shed--a stable. Three horses were there ready saddled.
"Mount, Pinot, mount, Roche. We ride toward the barrier and journey to Versailles. We have urgent business that way."
Barrington asked no question as he mounted. Mercier led the way out of this yard, into a narrow, cobbled street, then into a wider street.
There were not many people abroad in this direction, and no one took particular notice of them. They crossed the Seine, and it was evident that Mercier chose his way carefully, avoiding certain streets for good reasons, probably. They rode in silence. Even when they approached the barrier Mercier gave no word of warning.
They were challenged and stopped, all three reining in their horses on the instant.
"Business of the Convention at Versailles," said Mercier.
"More heads, citizen?"
"I judge so."
"You are Citizen Mercier?" said the guard, holding up his lantern to look at him.
"Yes. This is Citizen Roche; this, Citizen Pinot."
The man raised his lantern and looked into each face in turn.
"Devilish poor traveling companions," whispered Mercier, leaning from his saddle toward the guard; "l.u.s.tful fellows who get no fun out of their l.u.s.ts, as merry as death, and as silent."
The guard laughed and raised his lamp to look into Barrington"s face again.
"Provincials, eh?"
"Ay, from some corner of France where they breed mutes I fancy," said Mercier.
"They"re useful maybe, and if Madame Guillotine eats them presently, what matter? She must have foul food as well as fine. Any fresh news worth the telling?"